Eagles earn doubles crown

DOBSON — Surry Central hosted the 2016 Western Piedmont Athletic Conference tennis tournament over the past two days, and the Golden Eagles turned the doubles bracket into a Surry Central title bout on Tuesday.

The Eagle duo of Cole Leonard and Brandon Norman faced off with their teammates, Zach Cochran and Jose Montero, in the doubles final. Surry Central couldn’t lose, but in the end it was Leonard and Norman who earned the championship with a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

West Stokes’ Andrew Spainhour and Frank Sells came in third with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Forbush’s Matt Wilhelm and Winston Fleming.

The singles’ bracket also featured a championship match dominated by one school, this time with the West Stokes Wildcats sending two players to the final. Ethan Elliot, the tournament’s top seed, knocked off third-seeded Noah Spainhour with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

North Surry’s Wesley Nichols was the only local player to reach the semis of the singles bracket. He dropped a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Spainhour.

With the conference tournaments over, next on the horizon are the state championships. The brackets for both the individual and the dual-team playoffs will be released on Monday, with the dual-team tournament getting started the next day.